I have been telling you about our recent wins with States like West Virginia and Pennsylvania, but I wanted to share with you the results of one of our long-time customers. Eaton Corporation is a global technology leader in power management solutions that make electrical, hydraulic and mechanical power operate more efficiently, reliably, safely and sustainably. They have been a customer of SSDC since 2006 and have benefited from tremendous health care cost shifting for their early retirees and spouses.

By the numbers:

Total number of Discoveries and Development cases since 2006 = 2,372

Total cost shift including Recovery dollars since 2006 = $97,574,016

Almost $100 million dollars in health care costs have been shifted to Medicare in the last 10 years!

Large or small, public or private, all employers can benefit from SSDC’s Medicare Coordination Services.

Want a refresher, literature or help in approaching clients? Give me a shout.

I wanted to provide you an example of a long-time client of ours and the savings we continue to drive within their self-funded medical plan.

Results for a long-time customer, from a state on the East Coast, continue to provide significant value. We have been providing Medicare Coordination services for early retirees for this state since 2007, and it continues to provide significant savings after almost 10 years. The latest projections provided the following results:

Savings in 2016

Estimated Future Savings from 2016

Total Savings Since 2007

$701,020.90

$5,042,159

$72,082,833

Since 2007 we have saved this state over $72 million dollars in health costs by shifting liability to Medicare! These savings are scalable and relative. For example, a city a tenth of the size as this state could experience over $7 million dollars in health care savings to their plans.

These are real savings and they do not negatively impact the employees in any way.

If you would like to learn more on how to offer this to your clients, or if you’re a large employer and would like to learn more, you can reach us at:

Recently, we got a call from a gentleman whose wife is severely ill with multiple health issues. The husband is out of work and his wife has not worked since March 2013. The bills are piling up and the health care costs are staggering. Neither has or could afford LTD insurance, and the wife is only 45 years old and will never return to work. The family is in trouble but the husband purchased DAS within the last few months before being laid off.

This family filed for SSDI back in 2014 without having DAS and were denied at the application phase due to improper paperwork completion.

DAS covers the employee and the spouse, offers a grace period and waiver of fees in the event the employee is out of work or is in the process of filing for Disability, and it even covers appealing an SSDI claim if the employee signs up for DAS after they file their application!

We will win this case for this family and they will receive an income and health care (Medicare) to assist in the costs for the wife’s treatment.

Think about this case as you’re speaking to your clients. If they cannot afford LTD or it is not offered by the employer, what would your clients do if they were faced with this same horrible situation?

Remember the DAS sales contest – DOUBLE FIRST YEAR COMMISSIONS!

Need refresher training, product literature or help in strategizing on how to approach your clients with an effective value proposition for DAS? Give me a shout!

We often tell you how DAS provides for a comprehensive income protection plan, including Medicare, to clients suffering from debilitating conditions. I thought I would share the words of one of our clients to bring the point home for you:

“… I totally and completely appreciate all and every one of you and your team for all the hard work that was done on my behalf. I am happy and excited to know that my years of paying into the system have come back now to support me and my family in my now retirement time. Although, money can NEVER replace good health, it does make it a whole lot easier to bear. I wish I could say that I woke up this morning feeling no pain, but alas that is not the case. It will make my life so much better knowing that I may not have to worry about how my bills will be paid or if I can enjoy a vacation or two with my new grandchildren. God bless all of you and thank you again!!”

DAS will certainly not cure these conditions or “ease the pain” people are suffering from, but it does eliminate the fear and worry about how they will make ends meet while they deal with their health. Imagine the satisfaction you get by helping your clients during life changing events!

Remember the sales contest – DOUBLE first year’s commissions!

Need refresher training, marketing brochures or help in how to present DAS to employers and clients? Give us a shout!

Because more than 151 million U.S. workers are insured for SSDI benefits, Social Security administers the largest disability program in the nation. To qualify for SSDI, people must be unable to engage in substantial gainful activity because of a medically-determined physical or mental impairment expected to last at least 12 months, or until death. Social Security disability benefits can provide a critical source of financial support during a time of need, but obtaining the benefit is difficult!

A great deal of paperwork and forms must be completed CORRECTLY with medical records in order to prove to the Government a person can no longer work. As tax payers, we want to make sure the system is only used for individuals that really need it and not for someone trying to game the system. While that is a good thing for all of us it makes it even harder for a person to prove their need for SSDI.

With DAS, we assist the person right from the beginning with assistance in completing the forms, a review of medical records to include as evidence and research, and vocational research to back up the client’s claims.

Seven out of every 10 people that apply for SSDI without assistance at the application phase are denied! Your clients need DAS to protect them!

I am often asked what types of jobs/clients are best suited for Disability Advocacy Services (DAS). The simple answer is anyone who does not currently have, cannot afford, or be underwritten for an LTD policy. This happens to be almost 70% of the working American population! DAS is currently being sold to a wide range of occupations and the following are just a few of those utilizing the service:

Teachers

Unions

Maintenance personnel

Nurses

Pipefitters

Electrical workers

Roofers

Auto mechanics

Insurance agents

Ground crews

Tool and Die

Police

Fire

EMS technicians

Office workers

Dental hygienists

Auto dealerships

HVAC workers

Social workers

Child care workers

Veterinarians

Optometrists

Road workers

Home health care workers

The list goes on and on! DAS for these clients assures them that if something happens to them and they can no longer work due to an illness or injury, they will get their government benefits without having to go it alone.

Over the past year or two we have introduced a unique concept to help save your self-funded plan on retiree healthcare costs. This is NOT Medicare Advantage or some other type of retiree plan, it is pure cost savings!

Here are some things to consider:

Pre-65 retirees have average costs 40% higher than employees of the same age.

Open enrollment season is fast approaching and we are all gearing up to have a great year in sales. We would like to provide an additional incentive to you by offering double the first year’s commissions on all NEW DAS sales. We are having tremendous success in offering DAS through the agent and broker network, and we want you to share in that success. Remember, DAS is a perfect fit alongside your voluntary products and offers an affordable comprehensive income protection plan when combined with an STD, CI, Hospital or Accident policy. Some of the current markets DAS is being sold into include:

City Employees

Housing Commissions

Tool and Die Workers

Restaurant Workers

Dentist Offices

Doctors’ Offices

Home Healthcare Workers

Child Care

Plumbers

Insurance Agents

Teachers

Nurses & Hospital Workers

Law Firms

Custodial Workers

Auto Dealerships

Veterinarians

Optometrists

Property Management

Office Workers

Tire and Auto Centers

Cleaning / Maid Services Rehab Offices

Collision Shops

PEO Services

Many more

If they can’t afford LTD or get underwritten for it – they are a perfect DAS case!

Double the commissions for the first year and the ability to offer your clients a low cost valuable service, a win-win opportunity!

For more information on the contest feel free to contact me at any time! Good luck and have a great open enrollment season!

Last time we talked about the second part of word of mouth tactics to help you put together a system to shorten the purchasing decision time of your customers, which can increase your profits immensely.

Today we’re going to talk about the nine levels of word of mouth, giving you a tool to measure the word of mouth circulating around your company, products and services. You can then see where you are getting negative or weak word of mouth and find ways to correct it.

So, launching into the nine levels of word of mouth – it should seem relatively obvious that the negative levels are, well, negative and the positive levels are positive.

Minus 4

This is the worst of the worst and means your product is creating a scandal. Remember when the popular over-the-counter pain relievers, like Tylenol, were deemed unsafe? Yeah, you won’t want that kind of word of mouth.

Minus 3

Disgruntled customers are going out of their way to keep other consumers from purchasing your products and services. They are boycotting you.

Minus 2

While not outwardly boycotting, when customers are asked about you they will give a negative response.

Minus 1

At this level, people are mildly dissatisfied and while not outwardly talking about it, they will have an opinion if asked. Now, they may still purchase from you despite their negative feelings, which can be a little confusing.

Level 0

This is sort of a neutral place to be. Customers are using your products, but don’t really talk about it. People rarely ask them about it, so they aren’t sharing their opinion with others. This can be a bit of a slippery slope, because you don’t want to turn that neutral experience into a negative one. In fact, you should work to make it a positive one.

Plus 1

At this level we are finally starting to work our way into the positive word of mouth about your company, products and services. Plus 1 signifies that people are generally pleased with your products, but unless asked, don’t really say anything about them.

Plus 2

When asked, your customers will talk about how much they love your products.

Plus 3

Customers will go out of their way to talk about your products, services, company and their shopping experience with you. This is most evident when you see how people recommend movies to their friends and family.

Plus 4

Your product is the toast of the town. There is an obvious buzz going around and your business is the place to be. People are not only talking about your great products and services, but they are talking about their shopping experience, your customer service and how they perceive the company to help them in the future.

Some great examples of Plus 4 companies are:

Nordstrom

Coca Cola

Apple

Audi

FedEx

Tesla

We’re going to leave this lesson for you to mull over and take a look at what kind of word of mouth you are generating. If you need help with this process, reach out to us!

Next time we’re going to talk about the 30 ways to harness the power of word of mouth.

In the last post we started our series on word of mouth and talked about how to make your customers’ purchasing experience short and easy. We are going to continue with that theme a bit today. We’re going to talk about the power of word of mouth and how to mold it to your advantage.

The reality is that everyone needs an advisor to guide them to make a decision. We rely on the expertise of others to make the right decisions as they are explained to us. When you take the time to understand exactly what and how word of mouth works, you’ll see all the great advantages it has to offer you. Remember this path when working to understand word of mouth:

Accelerate the decision making process for increased profits.

You can accelerate product making decisions by making the process easier.

Instead of low-ball advertising and the used car salesman approach, try delivering on your word of mouth promises.

Traditional advertising draws about one response for every thousand ads, and most of those are only to seek out more information before the customer even considers purchasing. When you get information from a friend, you are more likely to take their word for it and act. On average customers purchase two out of every five recommendations their friends make. That’s a HUGE difference.

So, what exactly is word of mouth? We know how powerful it can be, but to define it: Word of mouth is a communication that occurs between a customer and a potential customer. There is usually a relationship of some kind and an established level of trust between these two people.

Now, compare this to advertising where you are providing a message to a potential customer in which they have not established a relationship or level of trust with you. Who are they more likely to take advice from? The answer is clear!
We talked above about the benefits of word of mouth, now let’s take a look at some of the reasons it works:

The information is custom tailored to the potential customer because of the friendly relationship of the referrer.

It is more personal, relevant and believable.

It is customer driven.

It is self-generating and can take on a life of its own, especially with the information age of the internet.

It becomes part of the product’s description.

The source of word of mouth can be important and more effective when coming from an expert.

Word of mouth saves you time and money.

To fully utilize word of mouth you need to understand:

Where is your word of mouth coming from?

What products are being affected by word of mouth?

How is your word of mouth traveling?

Once you know these things you can work out a plan on how to trigger more word of mouth.

This wraps up this lesson on word of mouth. If you need help understanding word of mouth and how it can impact your business, feel free to contact us.

Next time we’re going to dive into the nine levels of word of mouth. These levels help you understand which word of mouth is positive and which is not.